US Open Golf 2024: Bryson DeChambeau Wins amid Rory McIlroy Collapse; 2nd Major Title

Bryson DeChambeau is a major champion for the second time in his career.

Sunday's final round of the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Course No. 2 in North Carolina was a game of survival more than anything else, and survive he did thanks to an incredible par save on the 18th hole.

He hit his drive near a tree root and his second shot into a bunker, but his third shot put him within four feet of the hole. The ensuing putt clinched the title and was a painful juxtaposition for Rory McIlroy considering he lost by a single shot and also missed a putt from within four feet for par on the 18th just minutes prior.

DeChambeau finished with a plus-one 71 for the final round, but his minus-six for the tournament outlasted McIlroy by one stroke and added to the list of near-misses for the four-time major champion during a 10-year drought.

It was incredible theater between two of golf's biggest names in a tournament that felt like match play down the stretch, and McIlroy—who held a two-stroke lead late in the final round—will surely never forget the short putt that he missed on the final hole.

Patrick Cantlay, who is still without a major title in his career, tied with Tony Finau for third at four-under, while Matthieu Pavon rounded out the top five at three-under.

But the story was DeChambeau battling for his second career major title after winning the 2021 U.S. Open and coming so close this year with a tie for sixth at the Masters and a second-place finish at the PGA Championship against McIlroy trying to replicate the magic of a four-year span from 2011 to 2014 when he won all four of his major titles.

It looked like McIlroy was going to break his drought when he started off with a statement birdie on the opening hole and then poured in four birdies in a five-hole stretch from Nos. 9-13.

While DeChambeau continued to answer the birdies with incredible scrambles to save pars, including on the eighth when he drove his tee shot well into the woods area, the momentum was clearly on McIlroy's side.

However, momentum is always fickle at Pinehurst No. 2.

His two-stroke advantage after banking his drive off the grandstand behind the green on the short par-four 13th to set up another birdie right as DeChambeau finally failed on a scramble with a bogey on No. 12 vanished almost as quickly as it arrived.

DeChambeau drove the green and birdied the 13th, and McIlroy missed his first putt from within three feet of the season to three-putt the 16th for a bogey. McIlroy's mistake on the green foreshadowed his final hole and also allowed DeChambeau to survive his own short par miss for a three-putt on the 15th.

While McIlroy's collapse on the last few greens may be the most memorable part of this tournament, DeChambeau still put himself in position to win thanks to his ability to scramble from off the fairway on the majority of holes and continue to put the pressure on his counterpart.

Never was that more apparent than the final hole.